SINGAPORE – When Charmaine Tan turned 16, she was eager to follow in her parents’ footsteps and be a regular blood donor.
She also wanted to spread the word, and began volunteering with the Singapore Red Cross’ youth donor recruitment initiative YouthInspire.
Now 18, and having donated blood three times, the soon-to-be university student hopes to inspire her peers to do the same.
Her role is an important one, as new figures show the proportion of youth blood donors – aged 16 to 25 – continuing on its downward trend.
In 2025, there were more than 9,600 youth donors, making up about 12 per cent of the donor pool, according to Health Sciences Authority (HSA) figures released in January 2026. This is down from 28 per cent in 2015.
Blood donors made up 1.3 per cent of Singapore’s population in 2025. On the whole, the total number of blood donors grew nearly 9 per cent – from 71,277 in 2015, to 77,567 in 2025.
In the same period, total blood donations rose almost 12 per cent, from 122,048 units to 136,172 units.
The demographic profile of the donor population mirrors Singapore’s ageing population trend, said HSA.
The median donor age has gone up from 34 years in 2015, to 40 years in 2025. And while the largest donor cohort in 2015 was the 21 to 30 age group, the largest group in 2025 was between the ages of 31 and 40.
One in four Singaporeans is expected to be aged 65 or older by 2030, up from one in 10 in 2010.
HSA said the demographic shift intensifies the challenge for the National Blood Programme, which marks its 80th anniversary in 2026.
A shrinking youth donor population and the increasing number of seniors, who may be ineligible to donate as they develop health conditions, may cause the donor pool to shrink.
